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Robie House Restoration Overview

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One of the twentieth century’s most significant buildings, the Frederick C. Robie House (1908-10), on the campus of the University of Chicago, is entering the second phase of its current interior restoration by the Frank Lloyd Wright Trust.

Designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, the Robie House is the consummate expression of his visionary Prairie style. Innovative and forward thinking in design, the building synthesizes all the major innovations of Wright’s ground-breaking architectural philosophy. The house is conceived as an integral whole - site and structure, interior and exterior, furniture, ornament and architecture, every element is connected.

The Robie House welcomes 40,000 visitors each year from around the U.S. and abroad. Public tours continue during the interior restoration. Visitors can now view newly restored rooms: the Front Entry Hall, Billiard Room, Main Stairway, Upper Hall, Living Room and its inglenook. Visitors also have the opportunity to witness the final stage of restoration underway as the interior is restored to Wright’s original vision when the building was completed in 1910. Completion is anticipated in early 2019.

From 2000 to 2009, the Frank Lloyd Wright Trust completed an exterior restoration of the Robie House, including comprehensive stabilization of the foundation and steel frame structure, restoration of exterior brick and masonry, construction of a new tile roof and gutters, and new electrical, climate and fire control systems.

During 2015-17 the Trust commissioned a series of analytic studies of the site to confirm the stability and fitness of its mechanical and structural systems, and to research original interior plaster, color and wood treatments.

Harboe Architects is the architect of record for the project and Bulley & Andrews is the general contractor. Karen Sweeney, preservation architect and the Trust’s facilities director, is the project manager.

Major funders of the over $3 million project include Alphawood Foundation, Walton Family Foundation, Meijer Foundation, Tawani Foundation, Viñoly Family Foundation, Richard and Mary Gray, and John and Jeanne Rowe.